38:12 After some time 2 Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah was consoled, he left for Timnah to visit his sheepshearers, along with 3 his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
49:1 Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather together so I can tell you 7 what will happen to you in the future. 8
26:8 After Isaac 9 had been there a long time, 10 Abimelech king of the Philistines happened to look out a window and observed 11 Isaac caressing 12 his wife Rebekah.
1 tn Heb “came upon.”
2 sn After some time. There is not enough information in the narrative to know how long this was. The text says “the days increased.” It was long enough for Shelah to mature and for Tamar to realize she would not have him.
3 tn Heb “and he went up to the shearers of his sheep, he and.”
3 tn The pronoun before the first person verbal form draws attention to the subject and emphasizes Judah’s willingness to be personally responsible for the boy.
4 sn I will bear the blame before you all my life. It is not clear how this would work out if Benjamin did not come back. But Judah is offering his life for Benjamin’s if Benjamin does not return.
4 tn Or “for.”
5 tn After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.
6 tn The expression “in the future” (אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים, ’akharit hayyamim, “in the end of days”) is found most frequently in prophetic passages; it may refer to the end of the age, the eschaton, or to the distant future. The contents of some of the sayings in this chapter stretch from the immediate circumstances to the time of the settlement in the land to the coming of Messiah. There is a great deal of literature on this chapter, including among others C. Armerding, “The Last Words of Jacob: Genesis 49,” BSac 112 (1955): 320-28; H. Pehlke, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Genesis 49:1-28” (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985); and B. Vawter, “The Canaanite Background of Genesis 49,” CBQ 17 (1955): 1-18.
6 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “and it happened when the days were long to him there.”
8 tn Heb “look, Isaac.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the audience to view the scene through Abimelech’s eyes.
9 tn Or “fondling.”